CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) Shares Sold by Montgomery Investment Management Inc.

Montgomery Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF - Free Report) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. CF Industries comprises about 1.6% of Montgomery Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Montgomery Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in CF Industries were worth $3,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CF. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CF Industries by 2.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,192 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CF Industries by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,624 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 93.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Susan L. Menzel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.23, for a total transaction of $1,002,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 87,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,812,522.29. This represents a 10.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upgraded CF Industries from a "sector underperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of CF Industries to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CF Industries from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wolfe Research cut shares of CF Industries from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on shares of CF Industries and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.50.

CF Industries Price Performance

Shares of CF Industries stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $93.74. 312,083 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,739,646. The firm has a market cap of $15.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.96. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.34 and a 52 week high of $104.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.55.

CF Industries (NYSE:CF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.38. CF Industries had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 17.39%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. CF Industries's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that CF Industries Holdings, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CF Industries declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 14.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

CF Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. CF Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.35%.

CF Industries Company Profile

CF Industries Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other segments.

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